Tuesday, January 8, 2008
Thursday, January 3, 2008
Happy New Year!
Our new year is off to a good start...mostly packing and finishing up last minute things before we leave next week to go to the Philippines! The kids have enjoyed the time off from school and are having fun in the snow. It has been so beautiful outside with all the new snow and the sunny days.
Steve's office and paperwork have kept him very busy as he gets his business ready for his three month absence. We will have two employees that will stay on while we are gone and will take care of taking down winter lighting and getting equipment ready for the summer. Hard to believe when we return the end of March it will be time for the crews to start clean up for summer work the first of April.
Our house will also not sit vacant for 3 months as our friends, Kevin and Sherry Cooley, will be staying at our house and taking care of the animals. It is such a relief knowing it will all be taken care of while we are away.
We have certainly enjoyed the holidays as we get to spend time with family and friends. Our Christmas celebration is extended as we celebrated with the Veldstra family on Christmas eve, then we had our own family Christmas on Christmas day and then the day after we celebrated with the Engebretsen family. It just keeps going....when we arrive in the Philippines we will have a Christmas party with our friends the Germains! Our kids are going to think Christmas is a month long celebration!!
Kailee's birthday is in the midst of it all and she will turn 7 on January 8! She is looking forward to family birthday celebrations, and we will also use the time to say good-bye to everyone before we leave.
As soon as Christmas was over one of the kids has told us daily it is now time to go to the Philippines. The waiting was fine before the holidays, but now that the holidays are over it is time to go! It is fun to have their participation in the getting ready to go process as we pack and prepare for our adventure.
We are anticipating the days to come for our travel with a little fear and mostly a lot of excitement!!
Steve's office and paperwork have kept him very busy as he gets his business ready for his three month absence. We will have two employees that will stay on while we are gone and will take care of taking down winter lighting and getting equipment ready for the summer. Hard to believe when we return the end of March it will be time for the crews to start clean up for summer work the first of April.
Our house will also not sit vacant for 3 months as our friends, Kevin and Sherry Cooley, will be staying at our house and taking care of the animals. It is such a relief knowing it will all be taken care of while we are away.
We have certainly enjoyed the holidays as we get to spend time with family and friends. Our Christmas celebration is extended as we celebrated with the Veldstra family on Christmas eve, then we had our own family Christmas on Christmas day and then the day after we celebrated with the Engebretsen family. It just keeps going....when we arrive in the Philippines we will have a Christmas party with our friends the Germains! Our kids are going to think Christmas is a month long celebration!!
Kailee's birthday is in the midst of it all and she will turn 7 on January 8! She is looking forward to family birthday celebrations, and we will also use the time to say good-bye to everyone before we leave.
As soon as Christmas was over one of the kids has told us daily it is now time to go to the Philippines. The waiting was fine before the holidays, but now that the holidays are over it is time to go! It is fun to have their participation in the getting ready to go process as we pack and prepare for our adventure.
We are anticipating the days to come for our travel with a little fear and mostly a lot of excitement!!
Friday, December 28, 2007
Send Me
Send me I'll go,
send me I'll go,
send me I'll go,
lemme go lemme go!
Hey! After 1,000 years in the west and the churches
get'n bigger daily without understand'n worship. (say what!)
Some regenerate but a lot ain't saved.
You walk outside and be surprised cuz the block ain't changed
And the numbers they be get'n me.
Something ain't Christian they practice'n the ritual.
That's why we should be mission though.
Hey, what you think I'm spit'n for?
The United States is die'n
and in the east is looking pitiful.
Some places if they catch you
they'll arrest you.
They'll serve you,
but they still need the Word too.
The gospel should be heard too.
We claim we ain't ashamed,
but we ain't hit the block up.
Were in our Christian bubble,
while our brotha's get'n locked up.
Lord, I wanna stock up,
pack a bag and walk up
in a country where my faith may get me shot up
anywhere I go, whether my city or far abroad,
I just wanna show' Christ the Risen Holy God.
Send me I'll go,
send me I'll go,
send me I'll go,
lemme go lemme go!
I know they're die'n in the streets over in the middle east
Some kids sink in piece
others hold'n up a piece.
If the violence doesn't cease,
then at least the deceased
might know Jesus as their Savior as their bodies hit the street.
And I know this is a graphic view.
And I pray that it's attack'n you.
Track'n you to act and do
what you see in the back illusion.
Matthew twenty-four and fourteen.
We should read it twice
before we think that life is just a battle
see we free in Christ!
Look dawg! Life is more than church work and football!
What if you were dead and seen that Christians overlooked y'all!
This is why we leave the couch
and leave the comforts of our house
to show a die'n world a God they'll probably never read about.
The Great Commission says make disciples of all nations.
Have we even made them in our own nation?
Come on Christians!
Missions exist because worship doesn't.
People don't worship the God who made them.
We're ambassadors.
Let's go!
Send me I'll go,
send me I'll go,
send me I'll go,
lemme go lemme go!
~by Lacrae
These are the words to the song in the music video!
send me I'll go,
send me I'll go,
lemme go lemme go!
Hey! After 1,000 years in the west and the churches
get'n bigger daily without understand'n worship. (say what!)
Some regenerate but a lot ain't saved.
You walk outside and be surprised cuz the block ain't changed
And the numbers they be get'n me.
Something ain't Christian they practice'n the ritual.
That's why we should be mission though.
Hey, what you think I'm spit'n for?
The United States is die'n
and in the east is looking pitiful.
Some places if they catch you
they'll arrest you.
They'll serve you,
but they still need the Word too.
The gospel should be heard too.
We claim we ain't ashamed,
but we ain't hit the block up.
Were in our Christian bubble,
while our brotha's get'n locked up.
Lord, I wanna stock up,
pack a bag and walk up
in a country where my faith may get me shot up
anywhere I go, whether my city or far abroad,
I just wanna show' Christ the Risen Holy God.
Send me I'll go,
send me I'll go,
send me I'll go,
lemme go lemme go!
I know they're die'n in the streets over in the middle east
Some kids sink in piece
others hold'n up a piece.
If the violence doesn't cease,
then at least the deceased
might know Jesus as their Savior as their bodies hit the street.
And I know this is a graphic view.
And I pray that it's attack'n you.
Track'n you to act and do
what you see in the back illusion.
Matthew twenty-four and fourteen.
We should read it twice
before we think that life is just a battle
see we free in Christ!
Look dawg! Life is more than church work and football!
What if you were dead and seen that Christians overlooked y'all!
This is why we leave the couch
and leave the comforts of our house
to show a die'n world a God they'll probably never read about.
The Great Commission says make disciples of all nations.
Have we even made them in our own nation?
Come on Christians!
Missions exist because worship doesn't.
People don't worship the God who made them.
We're ambassadors.
Let's go!
Send me I'll go,
send me I'll go,
send me I'll go,
lemme go lemme go!
~by Lacrae
These are the words to the song in the music video!
Tuesday, December 25, 2007
Merry Christmas
Our days have been filled with lots of memories with family and friends as we remember our Saviors birth.
Sunday, December 23, 2007
Winter Wonderland!
Snow finally arrived for us here on the Kenai Peninsula! The kids are so excited to have the snow and cold they have been waiting for! Winter would just not be right
without it, especially since we are going to be gone for almost 3 months and they are going to miss so much of the winter.We have been having fun sledding, snowboarding, and ice skating. The cold and snow have made the right conditions for fun outside. The kids have a well worn path down to the iced over pond that they go skating on! In the summer the pond was used for homemade rafts and now they are ice skating on the same pond. The pond is not on our property, but on state property right next to us. Steve cut branches and made a roug
h path through the trees to the pond this summer and now the boys are going to pack down the path with their
snowmachine. Yesterday Ethan, Tyler, Kailee, and Adams were making trails on the ice through the snow and chasing each other through the mazes.It always amazes me how the changing of seasons can bring so much fun...we wait and anticipate each season and look forward to the changes the seasons bring!
Thursday, December 13, 2007
The latest happenings...
...at the Veldstra home! Wow, the weeks sure do seem to fly by! We have been busy keeping up with school...trying to stay focused on our studies until the end of next week. Not only do the kids have a hard time staying focused, but so does their teacher. One more week of school...we can do it! Amidst our days of school work we hav
e had fun cutting out snowflakes, glueing green and red paper chains, and making ornaments. Our house is now beautifully decorated with all of our creations as well as lots of lights! We always have so much fun decorating for the holidays!
During the busy holiday season we have also been counting down the days until we get on the plane to fly to the Philippines. Kind of makes us doubly busy, but just means we have to decide what are going to be our priorities for this year. Our list on the refrigerator helps keep us all focused on what needs to be done without Mom feeling like she is going crazy with too many things to do. We are all having so much fun preparing for our big adventure. The boxes of stuff going with us to the Philippines is beginning to pile up in the basement and we haven't even begun to pack!
Probably the only thing that is disappointing for the kids right now is that we don't really have any snow! We got the one good snow that I posted pictures of, but that all melted and we really haven't had
much to speak of since then. Will we have a winter without snow? I remember one year as a child only having a dusting of snow for Christmas...just doesn't seem like Christmas in Alaska without snow!
Yesterday we had a new big first for our family...Ann Marie took her written test to get her permit and passed the test on the first try! AHHH, we now have a young driver in our home!! I am beginning to feel old! It was only a few years ago that I was learning to drive...right?!? Ethan can hardly wait until he can get his permit and drive. I'm sure he will be there taking the test ON his 14th birthday!
Today Steve will be taking Adams and Alyssum to Anchorage, for Adams appointment tomorrow at the cleft clinic . We took him to the cleft clinic last year and it was a great opportunity to visit a whole team of specialists that take care of all the different aspects of cleft related issues. Adams and Alyssum are so excited to be going with Dad all by themselves and they get to stay the night in a hotel...fun stuff!
Steve has completed the Christmas Decor lighting season, and is now just cleaning up his shop and spending many hours in his office doing paperwork. He has a bit of work to do before we leave for 3 months! We will have one employee that will work on taking down lights and doing repairs while we are gone.
Last week we celebrated Eric, Theresa, and Katelyn's birthdays as they all have birthdays in December. Charlie and Kristen came down from Palmer to help us celebrate, and Grandpa was still here too so we had a fun family party!
e had fun cutting out snowflakes, glueing green and red paper chains, and making ornaments. Our house is now beautifully decorated with all of our creations as well as lots of lights! We always have so much fun decorating for the holidays!During the busy holiday season we have also been counting down the days until we get on the plane to fly to the Philippines. Kind of makes us doubly busy, but just means we have to decide what are going to be our priorities for this year. Our list on the refrigerator helps keep us all focused on what needs to be done without Mom feeling like she is going crazy with too many things to do. We are all having so much fun preparing for our big adventure. The boxes of stuff going with us to the Philippines is beginning to pile up in the basement and we haven't even begun to pack!
Probably the only thing that is disappointing for the kids right now is that we don't really have any snow! We got the one good snow that I posted pictures of, but that all melted and we really haven't had
much to speak of since then. Will we have a winter without snow? I remember one year as a child only having a dusting of snow for Christmas...just doesn't seem like Christmas in Alaska without snow!Yesterday we had a new big first for our family...Ann Marie took her written test to get her permit and passed the test on the first try! AHHH, we now have a young driver in our home!! I am beginning to feel old! It was only a few years ago that I was learning to drive...right?!? Ethan can hardly wait until he can get his permit and drive. I'm sure he will be there taking the test ON his 14th birthday!
Today Steve will be taking Adams and Alyssum to Anchorage, for Adams appointment tomorrow at the cleft clinic . We took him to the cleft clinic last year and it was a great opportunity to visit a whole team of specialists that take care of all the different aspects of cleft related issues. Adams and Alyssum are so excited to be going with Dad all by themselves and they get to stay the night in a hotel...fun stuff!
Steve has completed the Christmas Decor lighting season, and is now just cleaning up his shop and spending many hours in his office doing paperwork. He has a bit of work to do before we leave for 3 months! We will have one employee that will work on taking down lights and doing repairs while we are gone.
Last week we celebrated Eric, Theresa, and Katelyn's birthdays as they all have birthdays in December. Charlie and Kristen came down from Palmer to help us celebrate, and Grandpa was still here too so we had a fun family party!
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